/m/pirates

Reader Comments and Retorts

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

What made him think he was going to play shortstop in the first place? This is the kind of story you'd expect to read about Jose Canseco.

Um, back in November he said that the team already had 2 catchers, so he was volunteering to play shortstop. Management was receptive:

[Russell] Martin, a Canadian citizen, told Greg Hamilton, the Baseball Canada head coach and director of the national teams, that he wants to play shortstop in the W.B.C. Hamilton was receptive to the idea.

So, basically, he didn't want to play due to the extra wear and tear, but offered to help out if they wanted him at SS. Since they don't, he's not playing.

Just three days ago the report was that he would play short. It's something he's been discussing since November though it's not clear to me that Team Canada was totally on board with it.

I don't think Martin is quite as whiny as the late pull out makes him look. It looks to me like there was a miscommunication and something Martin thought was a done deal was not in fact a done deal. I think the whining about the WBC in general is seriously overblown and I don't think Martin's participation in the WBC is likely to be more taxing than his participation in Spring Training but he's hardly the only one bailing on the WBC.

The only Canadian MLB shortstop in living memory, literally, is Dave McKay. Who wasn't a shortstop but played a few games there in six separate seasons, totaling 45 games. I wrote a whole comment about this a couple months ago, complete with stat table, but can't find it now.

No Canadian has been a team's regular shortstop for any length of time in something like 80 years, except the aforementioned Kevin Nicholson for one month when the Padres were deciding that Damian Jackson needed to be moved from SS to 2B but had not yet acquired a suitable SS to replace him.

Along with others, I was wondering why not Martin at 3B/Lawrie at SS, and am wondering it even more so now.

You'd be asking another player to play out of position just to humour Martin's desire to make his SS debut in the WBC. Maybe the team is stronger that way, maybe not, but the important thing is to not get injured and to be ready for opening day.

Along with others, I was wondering why not Martin at 3B/Lawrie at SS, and am wondering it even more so now.

You'd be asking another player to play out of position just to humour Martin's desire to make his SS debut in the WBC.

I don't follow how playing Martin at 3B is humoring his desire to play SS. This notion is suggested because Martin started his pro career as a 3B (and has played there a handful of times in MLB) and Lawrie was a middle infielder (who even played a few innings at SS last year).

Looking at the link in #28, I had no idea Reggie Cleveland is Canadian, never mind from Swift Current. I actually have a friend from Swift Current who knows Cleveland from Bill Simmons' writing, but I'm not sure he knows he's a hometown boy (at least he's never noted it to me).

Cleveland got some acclamation in 1975 for being the first Canadian to start a World Series game. Poor Fergie Jenkins.

Also, his all-time "white guy you thought was black" name (inspiring the Reggie Cleveland All-Stars) makes much more sense when you realize he's Canadian. It seemed like half the checking lines in the NHL in the 70s were filled with Reggies.